Ten Years in a Portsmouth Slum

Available post-free in the UK direct from the publisher, www.lifeisamazing.co.uk.This new edition of this excellent book has been carefully edited and the type reset to modern standards. It is not a facsimile reprint, many of which also reproduce marks and flaws in the text from the pages they are copied from, but has been completely freshly set and presented. The book contains the photographs that were included in the first edition, and has a foreword by Portsmouth historian Matt Wingett, putting Father Dolling's work in the context not only of its time, but also reflecting the modern state of the city. It is thus a unique work, faithful to the original, but presented to make it easy to use for the modern reader and scholar. Father Robert Dolling was an extraordinary figure who had a profound influence on the society, morals, education and health of the people of Landport, Portsmouth between 1885 and 1895. Sent to the town to start a mission and revive the influence of the Church, he entered a wild, untamed corner of the kingdom where drinking, violence, prostitution and vice of all sorts proliferated in its dark, tight and stinking streets. Over a period of ten years, Dolling fought to help families who wanted a better life, building friendships, spreading hope - and raising Saint Agatha's - a large basilica-style church at the very heart of the quarter. Filled with wonderful Portsmouth characters and vivid descriptions of Landport life told in Dolling's unique voice, Ten Years In A Portsmouth Slum gives a rare insight into the lives of some of the poorest of the poor in this sometimes violent, always vibrant naval town. With a brand new foreword by Portsmouth historian and writer, Matt Wingett.